View source for Maypop Sickle

{{Masquerade PC
|name=Maypop Sickle
|portrait=Wiki pic.jpg
|characterpronouns=She/her while in drag, they/them out of drag
|type=Vampire
|clan=Toreador
|sect=Camarilla
|socialclass=Ancilla
|morality=Humanity
|position=First Talon of NYC
|pcgroup2exists=No
|desc='''Physical Description:'''<br>
Maypop is a tall, gorgeous drag queen. In drag, she appears as a fashionable, put together lady in her late 20s. She has a bright, eager smile, but often seems a little catty. She favors macabre but flamboyant aesthetics; long nails, big hair, and high heels. You will typically see her in black and red, with the occasional "pop" of purple and silver.<br>

It is not entirely clear what Maypop looks like out of drag, as she almost never appears as such in public. <br>

'''Persona:''' <br>
Maypop is regionally famous throughout New York and in other big cities in the North East. Her current drag persona, Maypop Sickle, leans heavily into the "vampire" aesthetic, and, through her performances attempts to normalize many aspects of vampire behavior, such as public blood drinking,  ethereal appearances, bdsm and dominance/submission dynamics, and hypnotism and mind control. She has influence among "special effects" to help her accomplish many of these tasks, as well as to sell that her performance is an illusion.<br>

Known for her quick wit, social insight, and passionate disposition, Maypop will often be found in the midst of the crowd at a party. Quick to anger and to laugh.<br>

Maypop is an intense pacifist, and very conflict avoidant, and she relates that directly to her heavy buy-in to the Camarilla. She will explain this world-view as such: she has seen what war is like and she never wants to return to it, and the Camarilla provides the needed stability to maintain peace. This is true. However, those in the know are also aware that Maypop has an intense violence related derangement that leads to her avoiding all physical conflict.<br>

Maypop is very involved in the New York queer, drag, and AIDs advocate communities. Part of her fame is derived from her drag "mother's" (actually her own) involvement in a series of very controversial AIDs protests, which were considered radical and avante garde even among the kindred.
|timeline=* 1841 - Born as Jay Roberts in Shiloh, TN (USA) to a poor family of subsistence farmers. They was the second oldest child out of eight, and the oldest of five to survive to adolescence. Jay especially cherishes one of their younger sisters, Bernice, an untrained but accomplished singer.<br>

* 1855 - Falls into the Tennessee River and drowns for a short time, instigating a series of visions of the future. These visions, once catalyzed by this brief death, continue throughout Maypop's life and death, and often warn her of approaching catastrophes. They are also incredibly distracting, and a tremendous source of guilt.<br>

* April 1861 - The American Civil War begins. Jay is drafted into the 5th Tennessee Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army outside of Paris, TN.<br> 

* February - April 1862 - Jay participates in the Battle of Island # 10, or the Battle of New Madrid.<br>

* April 1862 - Jay's Regiment marches back to Jay's hometown of Shiloh, TN, the sight of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. Jay discovers that thier entire family has been brutally murdered by Confederate soldiers. Bernice's throat has been slit. They have thier first dissociative break, and regain consciousness briefly to find themself heavily wounded and surrounded by the corpses of Confederate soldiers.<br>

* May 1862 - Jay is found on the battlefield and nursed back to health by a pair of noble Kindred, (NPC sires) Alexander and Ophelia Dauphine. Alexander and Ophelia represent opulence of a kind Jay has never before encounter. Jay is adopted by Alexander and Ophelia as someone somewhere between a lover and a pet.<br>

* 1862 - December 1864 - Jay lives with the Dauphines in Savannah, GA. Ophelia teaches Jay the basics of medicine. Alexander teaches Jay to read and write. They begin dressing Jay in Ophelia's sumptuous outfits, and Jay adopts feminine clothing full time.<br>

* December 1864 - Sherman marches on Savannah, and burns much of it to the ground. Jay forsees the coming fire and warns Ophelia, who moves the Dauphines, Jay and thier favorite ghoul out of Savannah mere days before their rich estate is burned.<br>

* 1865 - 1867 - The group of four travels the Southern United States, "living" relatively hand to mouth and relying on their various skills. The Dauphines encourage Jay to begin singing and performing, which they do as a busking act.<br>

* 1867 - 1874 - The couple purchases a townhouse in Atlanta, GA and live decadently, accustoming Jay to "the finer things." Jay is used as a mannequin for Ophelia fashion decisions, a songbird on demand, a lover, and of course, a source of blood. Jay takes to all of these roles eagerly, and falls utterly in love with both Dauphines.<br>

* 1874 - Alexander, at Ophelia's request, embraces Jay. Jay begins to go formally by the name "Violet Dauphine".<br>

* 1895 - Alexander is killed under mysterious circumstances. Ophelia disappears. Violet saw neither occurrence in her visions and flees Atlanta in grief.<br>

* 1896 - 1900 - Violet arrives in Boston by train and is lost and overwhelmed almost immediately. Slowly, she makes her way across the North-East, both falling and love and becoming ever more scared by the culture represented by this different part of the United States. She rarely interacts with Kindred society during this time.<br>

* 1900 - Violet spends all of one month in New York City before the 1900s celebration of the unification of New York occurs, and, spooked by the loss of memory and rapid disintegration of her cherished stability in the aftermath, Violet flees back to Atlanta.<br>

* 1990 - 1930 - Violet has a series of (as of yet unplanned) adventures in the deep South.<br>

* 1930s - Violet again makes her way back up to the North-East, starting in Boston. There she is "discovered" by a Kindred nightclub owner, [[Christian Whitechapel]], who puts her on as a lounge act, ala Billie Holliday. This is also her first real introduction to the queer scene and communities, as she begins to perform almost exclusively in queer spaces. She feels almost fulfilled artistically, but has trouble securing enough blood to feed well. This is the starving artist phase.<br>

* 1939 - World War II begins. Violet avoids news and images of the war, concerned about triggering her derangement, but travels back to New York City, where the queer community is being reinvigorated by the draft. She lives among her Camarilla brethren in Long Island, but makes a number of deals with the appropriate Anarchs, IA, and even Sabbat in order to continue to perform in major queer spaces across the five boroughs. Her femme persona is finally perfected about this time.<br>

* 1952 - Violet discovers the name for what she's been doing, what she's decided is her Toreador art, is "drag." While the singing is the obvious aspect, she gets more fulfillment from the genderqueer performance, the performance of gender. She starts to dive into the literature and academia of drag, much of which is still very underground and hard to acquire.<br>

* 1963 - Violet changes her name to "Maypop" and essentially starts a drag lineage, all named "Maypop" but with different accompanying surnames.<br>
** Note: This isn't usually how drag lineages work, typically it is the last name which gets passed down.<br>

* 1960s - Maypop slowly gets more and more into the 60s rebellion and activist scene and starts to adopt many of the boldest queer protesting types slogans and aesthetics. She tends to avoid the actual violent protests, due to her derangement, but she supports from a distance and often provides a safe house. Maypop's look morphs towards a kind of "Lana Del Rey version of the 60s".<br>

* 1969 - The Stonewall Riots. Maypop is present, performing at a club. Before she realizes the violence is at her doorstep, she is grabbed and ushered to safety by [[Maximilian "Max"]]. He undoubtably saves her from either death or a major masquerade breaking derangement episode. Maypop, while escaping with Max through a back alley makes eye contact with [[Rowan St. Cyr]] who is ardently protecting protesters. Maypop immediately respects the passion and drive which spurs Rowan's action.<br>

* 1985 - It is clear HTLV-III is an existential threat to the Kindred population of New York, as well as the many, many gay men that Maypop considers friends and food. Maypop is also incredibly angry that many of the Kindred around her are not taking this threat seriously enough. Maypop becomes a force in the AIDs activist community. Her drag also changes and takes on a distinctly more radical air. Maypop has a public performance in which she cuts her wrists and lets the blood just drain along the ground. She has a public ritual where she slaughters a pig in the source of a major water supply. She waits until she is face to face with a conservative Senator and spits in his eye. This is basically her Brujah phase. <br>

* 1992 - The AIDs iteration of Maypop disappears, and, in the mortal world, is assumed dead due to HIV related causes.<br>

*2005 - Maypop Sickle makes her NYC debut, claiming to be the drag granddaughter of the AIDs icon. She puts on a major show, with the help of multiple patrons. Her aesthetic has taken a distinct macabre edge, though it lacks some of the obvious shock factor of the AIDs iteration. Her performances are all done under the "fiction" that Maypop is a vampire, welcoming her beloved fans into the night. She works to establish a very solid mortal Alt ID (Bernie Roberts) to help reduce suspicion. Her influence grows in regards to the special effects industry to help make her performances more mysterious.<br>

*2011 - After the Beckoning, Maypop steps forwards as Talon in NYC, filling gaps left by absent elders.<br>
|player=Sophie Moskop
|playerpronouns=they/them
|playeremail=smoskop@gmail.com
|mesnumber=US2020020044
|region=Northeast Region
|domain=NY-004-D
|vss=The Apple of Discord
|st=Emily L.
|stemail=vst.masquerade@nyccamarilla.org
|notvst=No
}}